Jack White @ The O2 Arena – My Review

22Nov

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, today I return to the realm of the internet to give you a review of a gig I went to on Wednesday and it will be on Jack White at The O2 Arena in London. After missing White in London back in July, I had to see White before the year was out, so I’ve waited around 4 months for this, was it worth the wait? Read on and find out.

So how would I describe the gig in one word? I would use “badass!”

It was a great show full of energy, interactions and memories. The music was loud, aggressive and kick ass and at times it felt like a force of power hitting your eardrums. That’s largely thanks to the tenacity and charisma of Jack White and his band who kept things entertaining throughout. Unlike most gigs I’ve gone to, there were not many gaps between songs, most of the performances blended together which was odd but also very cool and kept things going smoothly so you never had many moments to calm down. White is a great performer, the man is as charismatic and crazy as the songs he’s crafted, he strutted, jumped and skipped across the stage, at points he looked like he was possessed by a demon from the way he swung his guitar and himself around the stage, but it was still awesome. My favourite moment from him was when he was drank something from a bottle (possibly beer) and threw it to the ground and then kept playing, such a beast, the poor stage staff had to run around him to clean up the broken glass and liquid. You could tell that the man really loves what he does and is all about the music, from the way he talked to the crowd and encouraged them to sing along to certain songs.

And then there’s the songs themselves, oh my god! It was awesome. Even though I’m not as familiar with Jack White’s work with The White Stripes, I still knew the majority of the setlist and overall it was gorgeous. I thought this gig would be primarily dedicated to theLazaretto album, and there was certainly a good few songs that appeared like “Would You Fight for My Love?“, “Just One Drink” and ”That Black Bat Licorice” being some of the songs that were played. The highlights were definitely “High Ball Stepper” which was lovely, the captivating “Three Women“, “Lazaretto” was AWESOME and “Temporary Ground” (one of my favourite songs from the album) was beautifully done live.

The Blunderbuss album got a lot of love too which was delightful for me because I LOVE a lot of that material. Hearing “Hypocritical Kiss” live was the best surprise ever, it is my favourite song from Blunderbuss and while the composition was different, it was a great sound. “Love Interruption” was another great performance that made me smile a lot and it was a great dedication to Isaiah “Ikey” Owens. “Weep Themselves to Sleep” was SO good, I loved hearing that live, while “Freedom at 21“, another one of my favourite songs was wonderful. And finally “Missing Pieces” was a great finisher. There was even material from The Raconteurs, firstly with “Top Yourself” which I liked a lot, but the best part of the show was the inclusion of “Steady, As She Goes“, that has been on of my favourite songs since 2006 and to hear it live was just a unbelievably happy experience. And the final song was the classic “Seven Nation Army“. In the end the song had to happen, I was wondering when it would turn up and just at the end it appeared. While I didn’t know any of the other White Stripes songs, this one got everybody singing and clapping and it was impressive.

In the end Jack White’s live performance at The O2 Arena was incredible. Seeing White strut his stuff and play some of these songs live reminds me of why live gigs are worth going to. If I can fault the gig at all it would be due to certain points when White didn’t sing all of the lyrics to certain songs or his voice wasn’t loud enough on the microphone. But these are nitpicks, I mean with a show this fun and intense its hard to focus on minor negatives. If you ever get the chance to see Jack White live, do it, you won’t regret it.